The Best Laid Plans (Episode 7)
by Zanza8
Summary: Judy is jealous when Nick starts spending all his time with a beautiful fox.
1. Chapter 1

"Have you seen Nick?"

Clawhauser gulped down his donut. "He's in Records. Do you want me to call him?"

Judy shook her head. "I'll find him. Downstairs, right?"

"No, actually they moved it." The cheetah pointed to the second hallway on the right. "Third door down."

"Thanks, Clawhauser." Judy set off, wondering what Nick was doing in Records. He'd been acting very strangely for the past couple of days, leaving so early in the morning he was gone before Judy even got up and coming back too late in the evening for them to have supper together. He lived right across the hall but the only time she'd seen him lately was at work, and even there he was unusually silent. Something was on his mind but whenever she tried to question him, he changed the subject. Judy was beginning to worry, but she was sure if it was anything serious Nick would share it with her. She pushed open the door to Records and froze.

Nick was leaning on the desk of another fox, smiling down at her and obviously in the middle of a very earnest conversation. The bunny had never seen such a beautiful animal as this fox, with glossy silver fur and dark dark eyes and white teeth that flashed as she smiled back at Nick. She was stylishly dressed in a raw silk blouse and she wore a jade bangle bracelet and Judy felt frumpy just looking at her. The bunny closed the door with a bang.

Nick looked over and beckoned to his partner, then turned back to the silver fox. Judy walked slowly to the desk, plastering her best smile on her face. "It's almost roll call, Nick."

"I know," he said easily. "I just stopped in to take care of something. Do you know Vanessa Blitzen?"

Judy offered a paw, exquisitely polite. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Vanessa. I'm…"

"Oh, I know who you are!" Vanessa's voice was low and husky and Judy gritted her teeth behind her bright false smile. "Nick has told me all about you. I'm so happy to finally meet you, Judy." She shook Judy's paw and the bunny couldn't help noticing how delicate the fox's paw was and how beautifully manicured her claws were.

"Yes, well, we do need to go make the world a better place." The bunny groaned mentally at her inane comment and headed for the door.

Nick peeled himself off Vanessa's desk. "See you after work?"

She nodded. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Judy held the door open, her heart heavy. "It's none of your business who Nick spends his time with," she told herself sternly but it was all she could do not to slam the door on his tail as he preceded her out.


	2. Chapter 2

Judy drove down the street paying meticulous attention to the traffic. She hadn't said a word to Nick since leaving Records but he didn't seem to have noticed. He had a preoccupied look on his face, like his mind was a million miles away. _Or in Records_. The bunny shook her head to dispel the thought. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"

"Hmm?" Nick shrugged. "I don't care. You pick."

Judy pulled over to the curb and stomped on the brake, throwing Nick forward. "Sorry."

He gave her a look but didn't say anything about her driving, just reported they were having lunch to the dispatcher. Judy jumped out of the car and went into the first restaurant she saw, a greasy spoon that turned out to be the worst place she had ever eaten. Not that she was hungry, but it did give her some pleasure to watch Nick choking down a bowl of lumpy oatmeal. "How's your food?" she asked sweetly.

"Fine. Just fine." He raised a paw and the waitress, a porcupine, ambled over.

"You want some more coffee, hun?"

Nick swirled the black sludge in his cup. "No, I'm good. Can I have the check, please?"

The porcupine looked at Judy's burned toast. "Separate checks?"

The fox shook his head. "No."

"Yes," snapped the bunny.

The porcupine shrugged, wrote out two checks, and collected money from each of them.

"It was my turn to pay for lunch," said Nick mildly.

"Maybe it's better if we buy our own lunch," Judy shot back.

"Suit yourself." The fox looked at the clock. "Guess we better get back to patrol."

Judy jumped up and went out to the car, starting it up and driving away before Nick had a chance to close his door. Even that didn't get a rise out of him, and at the end of their shift he barely said goodbye before he went running off to Records. Judy didn't care what he did, but she also didn't feel like going home to sit by herself in her little apartment. If Nick could go out, so could she. Tomorrow was their day off and she could stay out as late as she pleased. She changed out of her uniform, pulled on her favorite sweater, the one Nick said made her eyes look more purple, not that she was thinking about _him_ , and headed out.

Judy marched down the street, determinedly window shopping until she got to the Tip Top Diner. It was one of her favorite places to eat and her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had skipped lunch. They served breakfast all day long and some waffles would just hit the spot. She opened the door and went inside and sweet cheese and crackers! There was Nick with Vanessa in a corner booth. They were talking to Angie, who was smiling at them as if she had been looking for them her whole life. Judy started to back up but Vanessa noticed her and waved.

"Hi, Judy!"

The bunny gritted her teeth and went over to the booth, managing a crooked smile. "Hello, Vanessa. Nick. Angie."

"Hey, Carrots." There were some shopping bags on the table and Nick quickly moved them out of the way. "Want to join us?"

"Nick, we need to be going, remember?" Vanessa took a couple of twenties out of her satiny clutch bag. "There you are, Angie. Keep the change."

"Thanks!" Angie smiled at Judy. "Table for one?"

The bunny was watching Nick load himself up with Vanessa's shopping bags. "What?" Angie repeated herself and Judy said absently, "Yes, thank you." She fumed, watching Nick and Vanessa leave, the silver fox swishing her hips all the way out the door, then turned to Angie. "Can I just get some waffles to go?"

"Sure, Judy." Angie seemed about to say something else, then shook her head and went off to get the order while the bunny sat by herself in the vacated booth, reminding herself that Nick was free to do whatever he wanted.


	3. Chapter 3

Judy was up early the next day. Too early. She had forgotten it was her day off and left her alarm clock on. There it was, beeping away at 5:30 in the morning, and she debated throwing it out the window before reaching to turn it off. She rolled over, making herself comfortable, snuggling under her warm blanket...nope, this was not going to work. She was awake and she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. Every fiber of her being was too restless to lay around and she threw off the blanket and jumped out of bed, her foot thumping the floor in irritation. For a moment she thought of going across the hall to see if Nick wanted to get some breakfast, then she dismissed the idea. She wasn't hungry anyway. Maybe a jog would help her work up an appetite.

Five miles later, the bunny came back to her apartment dripping with sweat and ravenous with hunger. She threw her bath things together and ran down the hall to the bathroom for a quick shower, then came back and looked in her tiny refrigerator. One package of fresh carrots, two containers of plain yogurt, and a bottle of water. She definitely needed to go shopping and she made a list, then headed out. She stopped first at a tortilla stand for some fresh hot corn tortillas, then went over to Trader Doe's, filling a shopping cart and putting the blueberries back on the shelf every time she absentmindedly picked them up. Let Nick buy his own blueberries. Judy wasn't having his favorites taking up space in her refrigerator any more! She sighed when she got to the checkout and saw the blueberries in her cart. Well, she liked blueberries too, it wasn't like she had to let Nick eat them. He didn't even need to know she had bought them. She trudged home and was putting away the groceries when her cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"You busy?"

Judy frowned at the phone. "Finnick?"

"That ain't an answer," boomed the deep voice of the tiny fennec fox. "I need a favor."

The bunny rolled her eyes. "What kind of a favor?"

"I need to go get some parts for a car and I thought maybe you could keep an eye on the garage. Half hour, tops. I tried Nick, but he's busy."

Judy was strongly tempted to retort that Finnick should tell Nick to drop what he was doing until she remembered what Nick had been busy with the past few days. She sighed. "Of course, Finnick. I'll be right over."

He hung up after a perfunctory thank-you and Judy finished putting away her groceries, then started over to the little fox's garage. He was nowhere to be seen when she arrived and she went through the reception area into the garage itself. "Finnick?"

He pushed himself out from under a car. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting you to get here this quick."

"Oh, that's okay." Judy shrugged. "I don't have anything else to do today."

Finnick washed his paws and dried them off. "I won't be long. Just keep an eye on the place, okay? Answer the phone if it rings, and if a customer comes in, get a name and a number."

He left and the bunny flopped down on the little couch Finnick had finally put in for his customers. She had been nagging him for weeks about it, pointing out they would be a lot happier if they had somewhere to sit, and she was grateful he had given in. She squirmed around, getting comfortable, and she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, Finnick was back and talking on his cell phone.

"Okay, okay, I'll be right there." He hung up, scowling. "I thought you was gonna keep an eye on the place."

Judy sat up, rubbing her eyes. "I only dozed off for a minute."

"A minute! I been gone almost two hours."

"Two hours! You said half an hour tops."

The bunny and the fox glared at each other, then Finnick said gruffly, "Don't matter. I gotta lock up now. That was Sister Margaret. She wants me to take Nick to the hospital."

Judy's heart stopped, then started racing so fast her chest hurt. "What happened to him?"

"Relax. She said he fell off the porch roof while he was cleaning out the drainpipe. She thinks he broke his paw, but he won't let her call an ambulance. He said he'd go by himself but she doesn't want him going alone so she called me."

"I'm going with you."

Finnick looked surprised. "It don't need two of us to take him to the hospital." Judy just looked at him and the little fox threw up his paws. "Fine!" He locked up and went out the back, climbing into his van.

Judy got in the passenger side. "I thought you kept this in storage."

"I do. I got it today because I wanted to work on the carburetor." Finnick started up the van and shook his head. "You hear how rough that is?"

"No." Judy's mind was focused on Nick and she asked anxiously, "You don't think it's too bad, do you?"

"Nope. I've known Sister Margaret for years. She's a tough old badger. She wouldn't leave it up to Nick to call an ambulance if she thought he was really hurt." For all Finnick's confident words, he looked a little worried.

The bunny peered at the speedometer. "Can't this thing go any faster?"

"Goes up to a hundred and ten when I'm not driving a cop to pick up another cop."

They drove the rest of the way in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

The Thorneycroft Orphan's Home was unusually quiet when Finnick pulled up and parked. There were no children to be seen, but Sister Margaret saw them through the window and came hurrying down the stairs. "Thank goodness you got here so fast."

Judy got out of the van and just for a moment, her knees felt weak. "Is Nick...is he…"

"He's laying down in the parlor," said the badger. "And I sent the children to their rooms so it would be quiet until you got here."

Judy took off for the house, racing up the steps and into the parlor. The shades were drawn and the lights were off and after the bright light outside, the room was too dark for her to see anything. "Nick?" she asked.

"SURPRISE!"

The lights went on, revealing the room to be full of animals waving balloons and tossing streamers and Judy was so startled she jumped back five feet. Finnick and Sister Margaret came in and the badger smiled. "Happy birthday, Judith."

"My birthday?" Judy stammered. "But how...why…"

There were children underfoot all over the room and Sister Margaret scooped up a little possum. "Do you remember telling me last week about how this was going to be your first birthday away from your family?"

The bunny nodded. "I remember, but I also told you I didn't want anyone to make a big deal about it."

"I was in the pantry when you told Sister Margaret!" said the possum triumphantly. "And you sounded so sad I went and told Nick!"

"Yes, thank you, Edward." Sister Margaret put the possum down. "It's something to keep in mind around here, Judith. Little pitchers have big ears."

"JUDY!"

A giant polar bear was approaching with Fru Fru bouncing excitedly on his paw. "Oh, my Gawd, when Nicky told me about your party I was so excited I didn't even know what to get you!"

The bunny smiled. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"Well, I did!" said the tiny shrew triumphantly. She was holding little Judy and the baby had an envelope sticking out of her blanket. "Go ahead, take it."

Judy took the envelope and opened it. "A Moustercharge gift card? I hope you didn't go overboard."

"Naw, just a thousand dollars." Fru Fru shifted little Judy. "Say happy birthday to your godmother!"

The baby waved her tiny paws at Judy. "Abba badda!"

Fru Fru beamed. "Ain't that amazin'?"

"Amazing." Judy looked around. "Did your father come too?"

"He's waitin' in the car. He didn't want to come in with all the cops here. But he said to give you his best wishes."

Nick was wading through the crowd, Vanessa at his side, and holding her paw… "Fabienne Growley?" asked Judy.

The snow leopard news anchor smiled. "It's such an honor to meet you, Officer Hopps. When Vinny told me about your birthday…" She squeezed the fox's paw. "I wangled an invitation."

Vanessa looked adoringly into the snow leopard's eyes. "You know I can never refuse you anything."

Fabienne planted a light kiss on the fox's mouth and turned back to Judy. "Anyway, Officer…"

"Call me Judy," said the bunny quickly.

Fabienne took Judy's paw. "Well, Judy, I've always wanted to meet you. You did a great service to the city uncovering that terrible plot by Dawn Bellwether. You know, if you ever want to do an interview…"

"Fabi, this is a party. We're here to enjoy ourselves." Vanessa smiled brightly. "Happy birthday, Judy."

The snow leopard and the fox walked off, arms around each other's waists, and Judy said slowly to Nick, "So that's what you've been up to these past few days? Planning a birthday party for me?"

"Not exactly." Nick smiled ruefully. "I don't know the first thing about parties. I've never even been to a party."

Judy put her little velvet paw on his arm. "Nick…"

Clawhauser came up to them. "Judy! Happy birthday! I don't think you've met my girlfriend, Jenny."

The cheetah at Clawhauser's side was thin even for a cheetah, but her eyes were bright and her fur was shiny and she had a beautiful smile. "Benji's told me a lot about you, Judy. Happy birthday."

"Vanessa really pulled out all the stops," said Clawhauser. The parlor was decorated with gorgeous bouquets of flowers in every corner and a buffet table groaned under a spread of gourmet food. Waiters circulated handing out drinks and appetizers and a four animal band played in the corner.

"Vanessa?" asked Judy.

"I asked Benji to help me with the party," said Nick.

"And Benji told me." Jenny laid her head on Clawhauser's shoulder. "And I work in Records with Vanessa and she's got a side business as a party planner, so…"

"You did good, honey." Clawhauser gave Jenny a squeeze and they wandered off.

Judy looked at Nick. "So that's what you were doing with Vanessa?"

He grinned. "That's it."

"Where's the cake?" Finnick had come up without them seeing him and they both started.

"Cake?" asked Nick, his eyes twinkling.

"Cake," said Finnick grimly. "You promised red velvet cake if I got Judy to the party. Where is it?"

Nick pointed and Judy laughed. Chief Bogo was bringing in a cake so huge she doubted even all the children would be able to finish it.

"I didn't know how many candles to put on the cake so I settled for one," said Nick.

"Very wise of you," smiled Judy.

Angie was lighting the candle. "Come on, Judy!"

The bunny blew out the candle and started handing pieces around, smiling at all the friends whom Nick had assembled. Was there ever anyone like Nick? She had been feeling so blue about her birthday but she hadn't wanted to say anything. Trust Nick to find out anyway and get everyone here. Bogo, relaxing in the corner with a chunk of cake, handing out little gold badges to the children like the one she had given Finnick that first day she met him and Nick. Clawhauser coaxing his girlfriend to take one bite of cake. Vanessa and Fabienne Growley gazing into each other's eyes over a single plate. Nick had even invited the Ottertons, and his friend Flash, who had brought his girlfriend Priscilla. And Finnick, dear Finnick, looking so grumpy because he was trying so hard not to smile.

Nick came up to her, his sharp green eyes meeting her soft purple ones. "Do you like your party?"

"I love it," Judy said softly. "I thought…" She wanted to say what was in her heart. That she had been furiously jealous of Vanessa. That she loved Nick and she wanted to be with him always. That he was the only animal in the world to her. She shook her head. "Thank you, Nick." She reached up and shyly kissed him on the cheek.

The fox's heart turned over. Maybe he should say what he was feeling. Tell Judy how she lit up his life. How he loved her and never wanted to leave her. How she was the only animal in the world to him. For just that one moment the words trembled on his tongue, then he smiled gently at her. "My pleasure, Judy."


End file.
